BOIS-HALBOUT Calvados - 8 km east of Thury-Harcourt
Desperate fighting for the German grenadiere
On 12 August, the flanks of the Falaise pocket were closing on the 7th German Army, a sixty kilometers wide corridor held between Bagnoles de l’Orne and Thury-Harcourt. The Germans attempted to form a defense line, whereas the Allied crossed the river Orne south of Caen. In Bois-Halbout, grenadiere of the 271st German Infantry Division and one Tiger tank formed a hedgehog to defend the town main crossroads. The 53rd Welsh Infantry Division, under General Ross, spanned the river Orne at Thury-Harcourt. The 1st Battalion the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry ran the attack on Bois-Halbout. The German infantry opposed stubborn resistance to the Welsh troops, but when the Tiger was destroyed the Germans had to fall back. The 1st Battalion the East Lancashire entered Bois-Halbout.
  
     
   
 
 
 

East Lancashire stele
 Stele in memory of the soldiers of the 1st Battalion The East Lancashire Regiment, who liberated the town on 12 August 1944.
 Localisation : in the town center, on the town hall place.
   
   
ROAD MAP
 
INTERESTING WEB SITES
Calvados departmental tourism office web site
http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/
Personal web site about British artillery during World War II
http://members.tripod.com/~nigelef/index.htm
Personal web site – veterans memories, D-day, Normandy...
http://www.normandy1944.info/
 
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